Minister Schippers of VWS has announced the amount for the assets test in the care allowance for 2015. If the basis for the income from savings and investments (box 3) is higher than the sum of: the levy-free assets plus €82,093, there will be a benefit for all of 2015 no entitlement to the care allowance. The new amount of tax-free assets has not yet been announced. For 2014, the levy-free assets amount to €21,139 (double for tax partners: €42,278). This means that there is no entitlement to the care allowance if the basis of box 3 exceeds € 103,232 (for tax partners: € 124,371).
For state pensioners, the tax-free assets are often higher due to the elderly allowance. For 2014, this amounts to €27,984 if the income from work and home (box 1) does not exceed €14,302, or €13,992 if the income from work and home is between €14,302 and €19,895. With an income from work and home above € 19,895, AOW recipients are not entitled to the elderly allowance. The elderly supplement applies per tax partner.
All these figures refer to the 2014 tax year. The indexed amounts for 2015 will be only marginally higher. These amounts will be announced at the end of 2014.
The basis for box 3 is determined on 1 January each year. The situation on 1 January 2015 is therefore important for the 2015 benefits. Measures to reduce the basis of box 3 in such a way that entitlement to the care allowance (and/or rent allowance, see below) will therefore have to be taken before 1 January 2015. Which measures are taken (or not) depends on the personal preferences of the (potential) entitlement holder. VWGNijhof will be happy to help you with this consideration.
The rent allowance also contains a means test. Unlike the health care allowance, this test only corresponds to the tax-free assets in Box 3, i.e. without the additional amount of € 82,093. Also for the rent allowance, exceeding the tax-free assets means that there is no entitlement to the allowance for the entire year.
The elderly allowance on the tax-free capital in box 3 described above will be abolished. This measure is part of the 2015 Tax Plan bill that was recently adopted by the Lower House of Parliament and will enter into force on 1 January 2015 if approved by the Senate. Fortunately, the elderly allowance will not be abolished immediately on that date. This measure will only take effect on 1 January 2016. Measures to anticipate this change can therefore still be implemented in 2016.